By Sarah Tate
May 5, 2021
WXII reports.
The North Carolina Division of Motor Vehicles program, passed into law by the General Assembly, replaces license plates that are more than six years old. The replacement program was set to begin July 1, 2020, but the pandemic caused it to be pushed back until 2021. Now it s facing a new challenge: a shortage of the aluminum needed to created the plates.
According to the North Carolina Department of Transportation, the DMV usually produces between 400 and 500 first-time license plates each day. The plate replacement program would increase production by around 10 times that number. The aluminum shortage greatly impacts production, so by halting the program, the department is ensuring there is enough of the lightweight metal to produce first-time plates.
Unsplash North Carolina teens can resume on-road tests for driving after the Division of Motor Vehicles suspended the tests during the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic.
North Carolina teenagers can now get back on the road to take tests for their driver s licenses.
The North Carolina Division of Motor Vehicles modified the road test when the coronavirus pandemic hit last year. Called “contactless road tests,” they required drivers between 15- and 17-years old to drive around a parking lot while an instructor gave directions from a distance. The DMV says that was to protect the safety of instructors who get inside multiple cars a day.
By Sarah Tate
May 5, 2021
WXII reports.
The North Carolina Division of Motor Vehicles program, passed into law by the General Assembly, replaces license plates that are more than six years old. The replacement program was set to begin July 1, 2020, but the pandemic caused it to be pushed back until 2021. Now it s facing a new challenge: a shortage of the aluminum needed to created the plates.
According to the North Carolina Department of Transportation, the DMV usually produces between 400 and 500 first-time license plates each day. The plate replacement program would increase production by around 10 times that number. The aluminum shortage greatly impacts production, so by halting the program, the department is ensuring there is enough of the lightweight metal to produce first-time plates.
This story was originally published by the Asheville Watchdog.
HCA Healthcare, which owns and operates Mission Hospital in Asheville, reported this month that it made $1.4 billion in profits for the first three months of 2021, more than double the amount for the same period last year.
The new figures follow HCA’s report in February that annual profits rose to a record $3.8 billion in 2020, despite the pandemic, based on what the company called “solid cost management.”
In a proxy statement filed last month with the Securities and Exchange Commission, HCA stated its primary objective is “providing the highest quality health care to our patients, while making a positive impact on the communities in which we operate.” But it rewards top executives far more on meeting financial performance targets than on meeting quality of care metrics.